Changes

AU: Sirius and Dumbledore are alive

Harry had been back at Privet Drive for almost a month now, and he was feeling worse than he had ever felt before. The Dursleys kept him in his room all of the time now, and was only allowed one bathroom break. To top things off, they decided to try to save more money for Dudley so they could buy him his own house as soon as he was of age. To save more money, Harry now only got one meal a day with a glass of water. Things had always been bad at the Dursleys, but they had never actually starved him. He was at their mercy, and they knew it. At Dudley's command, Harry wouldn't eat that day. Harry would turn seventeen in two week's time, and he'd be allowed to use magic. He couldn't wait much longer, and was counting the hours until he could Apparate to the Burrow.

That day had been an especially slow day for Harry, and it seemed like it would never end. He had been lying on his bed, holding his stomach tightly as it burned and ached with hunger, when he had heard someone Apparate downstairs. He slowly got up, weak from his lack of food and water. Just as he stumbled to the door, he heard the lock click open. The door opened to reveal a worried Sirius with outraged Dursleys behind them.

"Get away from him! He's not leaving here, and I'm going to -" Vernon raged.

"Going to what, Dursley? Hit me?" Sirius smirked at Uncle Vernon before turning to Harry, who was leaning against a wall, and holding his stomach. His face turned to instant worry. "Harry? Bloody hell, Harry, what's wrong?" Sirius helped Harry back to the bed. Growling, he turned around and bellowed, "REMUS!"

Within seconds, Remus Lupin came running up the stairs, his wand raised. "Move," he said, pushing past the Dursleys. "What is - the matter with Harry!" Remus said, changing the last part of his sentence as he saw Harry shaking and pale on his bed.

Sirius only shook his head. "I dunno. I just came in here and saw him and.. We need to get him to Saint Mungo's right now," he said as Harry moaned softly into the pillow.

"We should get him to Albus first. You take him back, and I'll get a hold of Albus," Remus said quickly, before Disapparating with a small pop! Just after that, Harry started throwing up. Sirius could do nothing but pat him on the back reassuringly until it stopped long enough for him to help him stand.

"All right, upsy Harry. There you go. I'll guide you, okay? One, two, three," Sirius said, Apparating with Harry's arm wrapped around his shoulder. Within seconds, they were in the middle of Grimmauld Place's kitchen, where many people of the Order were gathered. Mrs. Weasley gasped in shock at the sight of Harry.

"Oh, you poor dear! Ssh sh sh, it's okay. Oh, Sirius, what happened? Were you attacked or something?" Mrs. Weasley said, fretting over Harry's condition as Sirius sat him down in a chair. Harry shook his head weakly before throwing up once again.

"No, we found him at the Dursleys' like this. Easy, Harry, Remus'll be here in a second with Albus, and he'll know what we should do," Sirius said, just patting his back.

"Sirius, we should just take him to the hospital right now! That's what Albus is going to say anyways!" Mrs. Weasley said, lightly putting her hand on his forehead. "Poor thing."

Sirius shook his head. "We don't know what kind of risks there could be. Look what happened in the Ministry, year before last. We can't take any chances, especially when Harry's in this condition." Mrs. Weasley slowly nodded, and waved her wand so the floor was once again spotless.

Harry was shaking softly, trying to keep himself from throwing up even more. He leaned back in the chair and tilted back his head, trying to relax. "Uugghhh," he moaned, trying to force the little left in his stomach to stay down. Ron lightly patted his best friend's shoulder.

"It's okay, mate. What happened?" he said, looking very pale. He had never seen his friend this ill before.

Harry shook his head. "One gl-glass of water, and one plate of food if I was lucky.. Each day," he said, putting his cold, clammy hands over his warm face. Mrs. Weasley gave a soft sob. A second later, two pops were heard and Harry had Dumbledore quickly looking him over. Harry hadn't seen him this worried before.

"Harry? How long have you been this ill?" he said softly, putting his hand on his forehead. He shook his head in replay.

"Dunno.. Not long after I was with the Dursleys.. A few days? A week tops after I went there," he said, trying to think straight. Dumbledore nodded softly. "All right, Harry, just relax for a little while. I've got to see if it's all right for you to go to Saint Mungo's. It'll just take a second, I'll be right back," he said before Apparating. Harry moaned softly and clunked his head on the table.

Within three minutes, Dumbledore was back, and Remus and Sirius were helping Harry to stand so they could Apparate to the Wizarding hospital. As soon as they were at the hospital, Dumbledore started explaining things.

"My granddaughter works here, Harry, and she'll be the one taking care of you. It's a lucky thing for you she got on shift a few minutes ago. Easy, now, Harry, don't rush yourself. There's no rush or anything," he said, looking around as he spoke. Sirius and Remus were behind Dumbledore, helping Harry along. Dumbledore stopped a few minutes later and turned to a wall. "Wolfsbane," he stated clearly to the bare stretch of wall. The blank wall pushed a large portion of itself back a bit, and started sliding into the other slab of wall next to it. A small, dark corrider was left open behind it. Dumbledore and Remus seemed sure of themselves, but Sirius seemed to be a bit apprehensive.

"Why does a Healer need there own secret place? And aren't those scratch marks on the walls?" he said, worrying about what might happen to his godson. Dumbledore nodded.

"Yes, those are werewolf scratches. My granddaughter specializes in taking care of werewolves. Remus has been to see her quite often, haven't you, Remus?" Dumbeldore said distractedly as they passed a large dent in the small corrider.

Remus nodded quickly. "Yes, she very nice. You don't have to worry about her hurting Harry or anything. I've honestly never met a more nicer or more understanding woman in my life. I was even thinking of suggesting Molly bringing Bill to her. If she can't fix his face up a bit, then absolutely nothing and no one can," he said confidently. Sirius, however, still looked worried.

"If she specializes in werewolves, Remus, why are we bringing Harry to her? It's not like he was attacked by one during the summer or anything. His door was locked and his windows were nailed shut!" he said, trying to get them to realize his worry.

"Because she's the one person in here that we can really truly trust, Sirius. Would you think I would leave Harry alone in the care of someone who I thought might now give him the best of care? Besides, Remus'll stay there with Harry for a while, and if you'd like to, I'm sure she wouldn't oppose to you staying as well," Dumbledore said distractedly as they reached a heavy oak door.

He opened the door, and started right in before the young woman in the corner had even got up. "Kyutsu, Harry here is very ill, and we need you to look after him. Will it be alright if Remus and Sirius stay with him?" The young woman quickly nodded, jumping from her seat.

"Yes, yes, of course. Come on, set him down on this bed. Poor thing, what's happened to you?" the ebony-haired woman asked as Sirius and Remus laid him down on a bed.

"He says he was given one plate of food a day if he was lucky, and one glass of water. It's been a month since he's started living like this," Sirius explained quickly. "He started throwing up a while ago, too." She nodded solmely and bent over Harry a bit.

"Hey there, Harry. My goodness, two similar cases, in just one week," she said softly. She had a very gentle disposition, and sounded a bit motherly. She started looking him over, and smiled very faintly. "The good news is, Harry, that you get to be stuffed with food until you pop. Bad news is, you gotta spend at least a week with me. And a couple of potions along the way, of course, dear." Harry didn't mind spending a week with her. She seemed very nice. Remus had been right, she did seem like a more caring and understanding person than many others. She went into a small back room a ways to his left, and came out with a small, light purple bottle.

She smiled softly at him. "You've had sleeping potions before, right Harry?" He nodded slowly, nearly begging for sleep. "Well, this stuff works similarly, but it makes you have the best dreams you could possibly hope for. It also makes you as comfortable as possible, so you'll probably sleep a lot longer than you normally do," she said softly, pouring a glass of purple liquid for him. She set it on the bedstand and helped Harry into a semi-sitting position. She handed it back to him. "And the best thing of it is, it doesn't taste like dog crap."

Harry couldn't help but chuckle weakly at this. He drank down the potion and ge began to feel much better. All of the pain and discomfort he had been in slowly disappeared. He felt himself lean into the big, soft pillows, and was already half-asleep. He looked up just in time to see Kyutsu smile widely at him, and say softly, "Good night, Harry."